The
FBI is urging the public to come forward with any information about the
apparent kidnapping of Armando Torres, III along with his father and
uncle, by armed men in La Barranca, Tamaulipas, Mexico, on May 14.

Torres, a Marine reservist who served in a combat zone during
Operation Iraqi Freedom, reportedly drove across the International Port
of Entry Bridge at Progresso, Texas, to visit his father's ranch in La
Barranca, Tamaulipas.

Armed gunmen entered the ranch and took Torres, as well as his
father, Armando Torres II, and his uncle, Salvador Torres, by force, the
FBI said.

Cristina Torres, sister of Armando, talked to her brother online the
day before he disappeared. Torres reportedly wanted to move to
Harrisonburg, Va.

"I think maybe he just wanted, you know, to go and have a farewell
and tell my dad he's coming over here," Cristina told the Associated
Press.

Cristina told the AP she received a call from her cousin in Mexico
the day of her family members' disappearance. The cousin was in another
home on the family's ranch.

"Ten or 20 minutes after they got kidnapped, my cousin called me,"
she said. "She said that she saw a white truck just pull in and a couple
men just got out of the truck and went inside the house and ambushed
them and took them out and put them in the truck."

There are rumors that drug traffickers wanted the father's ranch but
specific threats are unknown at this time. The home was allegedly
robbed and the victims vehicles were stolen.

According to the AP, "stories abound of the drug cartels forcefully
taking ranches to facilitate their drug trafficking, and properties near
the border are especially attractive. The segment of border where the
ranch is located is an important drug trafficking corridor for the Gulf
cartel."

The three alleged kidnap victims have not been seen or heard from since the day of their disappearance.

Mexican authorities have launched an investigation and the FBI has
opened an international kidnapping investigation. They are both
requesting anyone with information to contact the FBI-Brownsville
Resident Agency Office."

Back to the Original Post:

From the Laguna Journal:

MICHAEL WEBSTER: INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER. Sunday Oct 19, 2008 at 2:30 PM PDT
Drug trafficking and terror has become a way of life in Mexico. U.S. Mexican border cities from Brownsville Texas to San Diego California continue to be most affected by cartel-related violence; other U.S. cities are also being targeted with drug trafficking violence and related terror. Mexican drug cartel gangs and their surrogate's terror is reaching deep into the states.
The recent home invitation robbery and kidnapping of a young 6 year old American boy in Las Vegas Nevada is a in our face example of what is happening right here in our own neighborhoods.
The Las Vegas recovered ( lucky to be alive) kidnapped boy's Grandfather is a known drug dealer and is believed by authorities to be involved with Mexican drug cartels and other underworld figures in a drug trafficking operation that covers the entire Southwestern United States.

Just recently in El Paso Texas just across the border from Juarez Mexico one of the most dangerous and deadly places on earth several law enforcement agencies led by ATF and the FBI are investigating a "possible car bomb" that injured a woman on Friday morning and rocked a middle-class neighborhood in West El Paso.
Shelby County Alabama in a Birmingham suburb, authorities released few details in the case of five men who were found slain in an apartment. They say the men appear to have been bound with duct tape and their throats were slashed. Very similar to known tactic's used by Mexican drug cartel gangs and their American gang surrogates. These ruthless drug gangs according to DEA operative who wants to remain anonymous says, "investigators close to the Shelby county murders of five Mexican males was carried out by Mexican drug gangs or their surrogates and is very likely related to drugs and cash.
"DEA agents say that the cartels' incursions into the United States are spurring more secondary crimes, such as shootings, kidnapping, and murders. These terrorist type assassinations are demonstrating the dangerous reach of the Mexican drug cartels and how it now goes very deep into Middle America and are reported to be killing, robbing, torturing, kidnapping, and threatening Americans and others at an alarming rate.
These gang members are known to be attacking Americans all over the U.S. Recently it came to light that a gang operation of this type was uncovered operating on the east coast from New York to Florida robbing known drug dealers of both their drugs and cash. These attacks were pulled off all up and down the East Coast, federal investigators said. Investigators said the suspects used terrorist tactics of simulated drowning techniques as well as pliers applied to the male victim's genitals to learn where and when millions in cash and drugs shipments were being made.
Police say this type of crime is happening on both sides of the U.S Mexican border. Mexican drug cartels through their segregate organizations control the lucrative methamphetamine trade, as the arrival of purer Mexican ice methamphetamine has replaced locally produced powder meth, according to the US Department of Justice.
In Florida a horrifying story describes a little girl who, after being taken to the Florida panhandle from Mexico, resisted while being raped, and was subsequently made an example of, by being beheaded in front of other girls who were being held to be raped. The girls then were made to watch by being left in the room with the little girl's headless body for several hours.
Atlanta has become the latest battleground for Mexican drug cartels. "Their idea is to control the whole economic process of production and distribution," said Georgina Sanchez, an independent security consultant in Mexico and executive director of a public safety policy institute. In many areas of the United States the cartels have entered into partnerships with local gangs, in others they have directly assumed control of local drug distribution, analysts say.Gwinnett County, Georgia, where Atlanta is located is over 1,000 miles from our U.S. - Mexico border. They have already had nine drug-related kidnappings this year. DEA agents raided a home and charged three men, all illegal aliens, with kidnapping and conspiracy to distribute cocaine after finding that they had bound and chained the victim to a wall in a basement in the town of Lilburn and beat him for nearly a week in an effort to collect $300,000 in drug debt.
The biggest worry for U.S. citizens and the big concern for local law enforcement groups is that the cartels bring with them violent methods honed during furious cartel wars in Mexico that have left thousands dead already this year. In recent years, Mexican drug violence has reached new heights, with beheadings, videotaped executions broadcast on the Internet, and the targeting and killings of top Mexican law enforcement officials.
We're seeing younger individuals being deployed by Mexican cartel leadership up into the United States to work for these cartels. Google or click on: Mexican drug cartels infiltrating colleges and high school campuses in America.Gwinnett D.A. said this is not a blip. This is significant in what's going on here. U.S. Attorney for the northern part of Georgia said, we are about to see the extreme violence that is happening south of the border happen here in America. It's more violent there than it is in Baghdad or Afghanistan. They're beheading people said Benson.
Mexican cartel Los Zetas paramilitary surrogates allegedly attacked and slaughtered an American in Phoenix Ariz. Police say the attackers were dressed in black military like combat uniforms very similar to known Mexican cartel paramilitary gangs.
Phoenix papers reported that 6 Mexicans killed a Phoenix man who was found dead by police in a local neighborhood home riddled with more than 100 bullets. Google or click on: They're known as "Los Zetas, we have seen an increasing amount of these types of violent crimes in the past five months," Phoenix Police Sgt. Joel Tranter said. "We want the public to realize that these types of crimes will not be tolerated in Phoenix." These men each wore tactical clothing and Kevlar helmets and other weapons were found in the vehicle. Police believe the hit was drug-related and are looking for three more suspects in the case.
Federal, State and Local law enforcement officers believe there are many more violent crimes being committed here in the states by drug related Mexican drug cartels and their surrogates and Americans are only hearing about a very few. But as a DEA official said recently, "I feel this is but the beginning and that the dangers of the menus [SEC] of the Mexican drug organizations is something America will be dealing with for a long time to come."
Another report:

"And now the bad news: The Mexican civil war is spilling over into the U.S.

(As forecast here EXCLUSIVELY on Baja Racing News.com over one year ago)

Reports of incursions into the U.S. by heavily armed men in Mexican army uniforms (and often driving U.S.-made Humvees) now occur on a regular basis. Sometimes the "soldiers" are cartel men, probably ex-Mexican army; sometimes they are real Mexican army. In every case, their purpose is to protect a drug run into the U.S. and back off any lightly armed local sheriff or Border Patrol agent in the way.
The Border Patrol has issued new guidelines for its officers, fearful that any day now, a full blown firefight on U.S. soil will make headlines in both countries.
The Mexican civil war came to Las Vegas, Nev., last week and 6-year-old Cole Puffinburger, 48 pounds and barely 4 feet tall, was its victim.
A group of three Latino men with "heavy accents" and wearing police uniforms invaded the home where Cole and his mother lived, tied up the mother and her current boyfriend, ransacked the house looking for money, and abducted Cole.
Las Vegas is a major distribution point for drugs coming from Mexico into the U.S. The Mexican drug cartels have bought up foreclosed houses in northeastern and southeastern Las Vegas as way stations for drug shipments and as safe houses.
The Las Vegas police, assisted by the FBI, DEA and ICE, theorize that the home invasion and abduction resulted from Cole's grandfather keeping millions of dollars of cartel drug profits instead of laundering the money back to Mexico.
The 51-year-old grandfather, Clemens Fred Tinnemeyer, reportedly owed the cartel between $8 million and $20 million. He was arrested last weekend in Riverside, Calif. A Mexican national, Jesus Gastelum, is being sought as a "person of interest."
In large and small ways, the violence of the Mexican narco-civil war has come to the U.S. – to my community and yours."

"Some recent Mexican army and police confrontations with drug cartels have taken on the characteristics of small-unit combat, with cartels employing automatic weapons and, on occasion, grenades," the state department said. Underworld violence has killed more than 5,000 people since President Felipe Calderon ordered the army and federal police to crack down on the country's powerful drug cartels. "Mexican and foreign bystanders have been injured or killed in some violent attacks, demonstrating the heightened risk in public places," also, "Increased levels of violence make it imperative that travelers understand the risks of travel to Mexico," said a new six-monthly State Department travel alert. The twelve deaths in Baja California included two adults and two minors in an AK-47 attack in Tijuana recently. "An armed commando also killed a former police officer in the border town of Mexicali", the State Department warned.
The State Department should have issued this WARNING months ago. Screw it, lets go racing!
The Full Story:

"23 die in Mexico border attacks as US upgrades travel alert

MEXICO CITY (AFP) — Twenty three died in attacks in northern Mexico in the past two days, officials said, as the United States warned its citizens to increase vigilance when traveling south of the border.
Twelve died in northwestern Baja California State, mostly in the volatile border city of Tijuana, and 11 were killed in Chihuahua, further east.
Border areas where rival drug cartels are battling over key routes into the United States are among the worst hit in escalating violence across Mexico this year in which almost 3,500 have died, including civilians.
"Increased levels of violence make it imperative that travelers understand the risks of travel to Mexico," said a new six-monthly State Department travel alert.
The twelve deaths in Baja California included two adults and two minors in an AK-47 attack in Tijuana Tuesday, said Jose Manuel Yepiz, spokesman for the prosecutor's office.
An armed commando also killed a former police officer in the border town of Mexicali.
Eleven died in attacks in Chihuahua State in the past 24 hours, including a former police commander, said Alejandro Pariente, spokesman for the state attorney general's office, on Tuesday.
Chihuahua is a flashpoint in an increasingly bloody turf war between drug cartels, with more than 1,000 killed in the state's border city of Ciudad Juarez alone so far this year.
"The situation in Ciudad Juarez is of special concern," the State Department said of the city across the border from the US city of El Paso.
"A recent series of muggings near the US Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez has targeted applicants for US visas," it added, as an increasing number of civilians flee the city's violence.
It underlined the use of automatic weapons and grenades by drug cartels, as well as public shootings which have taken place during daylight hours in border cities including Ciudad Juarez, Tijuana and Nogales.
Criminals have followed and harassed US citizens traveling in border areas, sometimes wearing full or partial police or military uniforms, it said.
It also called for vigilance during public rallies, after an Independence Day grenade attack last month in central Mexico in which eight died.
A government crackdown on drug-related violence, initiated by President Felipe Calderon almost two years ago and including the deployment of 36,000 troops, has showed no sign of stopping the killings."

Baja Racing News.com was on this story when all others were deaf, dumb and blind. Beware, some remain so to stay in their business.

Two were killed immediately and two hurt after a shooting in downtown Ensenada. Two people died after being executed at noon on Thursday. One armed shooter moved by the street Buccaneers of the division Embosomed Beach, downtown, nearby the Second Military Naval Zone.

The Ensenada police confirmed that the facts happened at 12:30 PM, Thursday, when the vehicles, that traveled in a light truck Trail Blazer of newer model, caught up to them and began shooting. The now dead, have still not been identified, traveled in a Jeep Cherokee.

The shooting started in the downtown tourism walk on the sidewalk, and ended near Sullivan park. When pausing, they hit against two vehicles that were parked. The wounded were taken to the Naval Hospital for medical attention. Security services, by military police and other elements, got the wounded to the General Hospita. lLater in the day, the wounded died in hospital of his injuries.

"Triple execution in Chapultepec neighborhood, subjects armed with AK-47's "air lifted" to the Ensenada Military Air Base

By: Cesar Cordova / El Vigía Newspaper

Three people were executed in the streets, Sea of Cortez Street, in the city of Ensenada, Baja California Mexico. Three subjects were raised and executed this Friday night in the community of Chapultepec, heavily armed criminals circulating in at least four units. The incident led to the mobilization of more than 50 units of various corporations and the Mexican Army troops. Early versions indicate that all originated around the 21:00 hours, when up to the military airbase - compared to the cooler Diamond - three men were handcuffed and uploaded to a vehicle model Chevrolet Silverado recently. At that time, elements of corporate police had already initiated a chase towards the Fractionation Ocean View. Being on the street of Sea of Cortez, criminals who held at least two vehicles had decided to kill the captives bound and thrown into the streets of terraces.

The bodies were handcuffed in the back several impacts of firearm. Witnesses assured of the facts have seen two pick up brand Chevrolet Silverado, one dark and one cherry and a gray truck closed. Meanwhile, patrols of state corporations, municipal and federal maintained an operational search streets surrounding the scene, even in the hill area of the Royal Villas. At the same time, another uniformed kept operating in the area near San Carlos, four miles to the south by road Transpeninsular, which claimed another shooting had been raised, however until the early hours of this Saturday version had not been confirmed. The flight and the findings Following the triple murder, criminals fled due to the area of Royal Villas VI, which entered the Prague street, while police followed closely. Al Cope and be found in a dead-end street a couple of subjects that were circulating on board a pick up Silverado, they decided to flee foot land. According to residents, the criminals left the vehicle carrying two guns long heading toward a hill to hide, lost in the dark.

The abandoned vehicle was located chargers long gun and two of the R15 known as "bull eggs", plus a short firearm caliber 9 mm mark Browny. Meanwhile in the place where the bodies were lying remained around 30 ministerial officers, who cordoned off the area in one block in the round. It was later found abandoned a second unit Silverado colored icing without plates, a few metres from the Boulevard Zertuche, in the area of Royal Villas I, which was guarded by agents municipal, state and ministerial. During the night more than a hundred residents remained on the lookout, some in the open and others locked with chains and key. There were also units of the Mexican Red Cross waiting for any indication. At approximately 22:50 hours ministerial remained at the crime scene boarded their vehicles and launched so fast road; unofficially talked about the location of another corpse and a vehicle loaded with marijuana, but the fact was not confirmed . At the close of this edition transpired that two of the victims responded to the names of John and Baltazar and farmers who were presumed from the valley at Maneadero, south of Ensenada."

August 29, 2008FEDS OFFER $350,000 FOR MEXICANS HEADTUCSON - Federal authorities said Friday they have offered a reward of up to $350,000 for information leading to the arrest of a Mexican suspect in a Border Patrol agent's death.

Authorities believe Jesus Albino Navarro Montes, 22, is in Mexico but based on previous habits may try to re-enter the United States, Border Patrol Yuma sector spokesman Ben Vik said.

U.S. officials allege that Navarro struck and killed agent Luis Aguilar with a vehicle on Jan. 19 as Aguilar tried to place spike strips on a road to stop suspected drug smugglers in the Imperial County Sand Dunes in California. Aguilar, 32, a six-year Border Patrol veteran, was assigned to the Yuma sector.

Mexican authorities arrested Navarro on Jan. 22 in Mexicali in Baja California, the Mexican federal attorney general's office and Public Safety Department said at the time. But U.S. authorities failed to formally request Navarro's extradition over the next five months, and on June 18, a judge in Mexicali released Navarro from a prison there after clearing him of an unrelated migrant smuggling charge.

In July, a spokesman for the Mexican Embassy in Washington said the United States did not ask Mexico to arrange for Navarro's extradition until more than a week after he had been freed. Shortly before that announcement, 39 U.S. congressmen wrote President Bush and Attorney General Michael Mukasey asking if the government had asked Mexico to extradite Navarro.

A Justice Department spokesman also said the department would review the legislators' letter, and that it remained committed to investigating the agent's death. Several days later, the White House and the Justice Department separately sent letters to the 39 congressmen, but failed to say why Navarro was not extradited from Mexico.

A presidential lawyer wrote that the White House deferred to the Justice Department to avoid interfering with or undermining the effectiveness of the department's investigation. A California congressman who initiated the letter-writing said the responses were "bureaucratic and lack transparency."

Vik said reward posters showing photos of and describing Navarro have been distributed to Mexican police stations and the attorney general's office and have been placed at ports of entry. "The reward was in the works ever since the suspect was released in Mexico. It takes time to work these things out," Vik said.August 25, 2008 UPDATED BORDER VIOLENCE GOES INTO THE UNITED STATES By ALICIA A. CALDWELL 9:56 PM EDT, August 25, 2008

EL PASO, Texas (AP) _ Security is being heightened along the southern U.S. border because of a threat that warring Mexican cartels may send hit men into the United States, authorities said Monday.

Law enforcement officials would not discuss specific security measures being taken at the ports of entry, along the border or in the city of El Paso.

"We received credible information that drug cartels in Mexico have given permission to hit targets on the U.S. side of the border," El Paso police spokesman Officer Chris Mears said.

Authorities learned of the threat last week.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Chief Officer Rick Lopez said: "CBP is on heightened alert ever since we became aware of the threats in Mexico."

Drug cartel violence has claimed thousands of lives in Mexico this year. Nearly 800 people have been killed in Ciudad Juarez, a hardscrabble city of about 1.3 million people across the Rio Grande from El Paso.

The cartels, battling one another and the Mexican government for supremacy and control of lucrative drug and human smuggling routes, have become brazen in their attacks in recent months.

In Juarez this month, masked gunmen stormed a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center and killed eight people. Days later, Red Cross workers stopped treating gunshot victims for several hours after receiving death threats over Red Cross radios. The Red Cross had already stopped responding to emergency calls after 10 p.m. because of security concerns.

Law enforcement officials this year in New Mexico and Texas said they had received a purported cartel hit list identifying 15 to 20 potential targets in those states. Mears said the latest threat contained no specific targets.

The deadly wave of shootings and a rise in kidnappings for ransom in Mexico has prompted some of its citizens, including police officers and a prosecutor, to seek asylum in the U.S.

While the ongoing cartel war has been largely contained in Mexico, more than two dozen gunshot victims have been taken for medical treatment in El Paso, prompting security lockdowns at the county hospital.

Lopez said agents working at the ports, where those gunshot victims have been taken before coming into the U.S., are taking extra security precautions. Ambulances transporting gunshot victims are already being escorted by local law enforcement to the hospital, he said.

A La Paz based sanctioning body cancels South Baja event after news of high-profile murders

"Champion motorcyclist René Reyes Aguirre and two other Mexican racers were gunned down in the northern border city of Ciudad Juárez, the Mexican Motorcycling Federation, or FMM, said Tuesday.The FMM posted a note of condolence on its Web site, in which it lamented the competitors´ deaths. It added that "they were victims of the violence that unfortunately Chihuahua and the whole country are going through."According to local newspaper El Diario de Chihuahua, an armed individual entered the house where Reyes, 24, and fellow motorcycle racers José Refugio Ontiveros and Andrés Mora were staying, and opened fire on them.Reyes was five-time champion of Supercross SX1 Experts. He last won that race in 2008. Among his international achievements was his 2004 entry into the Main Event in the United States, a competition which brings together the world´s top 20 racers. Reyes came from a family of renowned motorcyclists, among them his father and his brother. On Tuesday, various motorcycle groups in Chihuahua marched in protest against the violent death of their three friends. Nearly 1,050 people have died violently in Chihuahua since Jan. 1, accounting for nearly 50 percent of the deaths nationwide this year. The entire nation has been plagued in recent years by drug-related violence, with powerful cartels battling each other and the security forces as they vie for control of lucrative smuggling routes and distribution channels into the United States. In recent months, more and more reports have emerged of innocent victims being affected by the violence.Army troops and federal police have been deployed to Chihuahua since earlier this year to quell the rising violence. Instead, the murder rate has spiked. Chihuahua Gov. José Reyes Baeza Terrazas called for a new federal strategy to fight organized crime and reinstate security following a mass killing on Saturday."

Another Report:""MEXICO - Mexican pilot René Reyes Aguirre, national champion of Supercross, was assassinated in Juárez City, border with the United States, along with two colleagues his by a commando armed, informed the Mexican Federation of Motociclismo today (FMM). When confirming the crime, that took place yesterday, the FMM made circulate in its page Web a condolencia note in which it lamented the decease of the sportsmen and maintained that " they were victims of the violence that lamentably this living chihuahua (state northern to that Juárez City belongs) and the country completo". According to the electronic edition of the Newspaper of Chihuahua, a armed commando entered the house where he was Kings, of 24 years of age, next to the other two pilots, Jose Refuge Ontiveros and Andres Blackberry, and shot against them. " We reprobate and we were sorry deeply that the sport, like many other scopes, is private of talented Mexican and still more of friendly deeply wanted and considered by ours comunidad" , it affirmed the Federation. René Third was five times Mexican champion of Experts SX1 of Supercross, the last one in 2008, and between its international profits they emphasize his happens in 2004 to the Main Event of the United States, that reunites to the 20 best ones of the world. Also the harvested bronze medal east year in the Latin American championship and the seventh place in the same contest in 2006. The sportsman comprised of a family of recognized motorcyclists headed by his father and his brother, deceased as a result of cancer in past January. Today, the organizations of motorcyclists of Chihuahua realise a march of protest by the violent death of their three companions. That state of the northwest of the country has registered in which it goes of the year more than thousand murders of the organized crime, very over the second of the list, Sinaloa, that takes average thousand of more than 2,700 entered in an unofficial registry by the newspaper the Universal one.""

Early Report from August 15, 2008

NO GO, No Bueno Baja 1000

The Baja tourism collapse continues. The historic Bike Race has thrown in the towel, "The Rosarito Ensenada 50 Mile Fun Bicycle Ride has enjoyed a history spanning almost 30 years and has been an icon among cycling events around the world. But the decrease in Baja tourism has reduced attendance to our financial break-even point. We have decided that this next ride on September 27, 2008, will be our last".

Ensenada continues to be a haven for "black commandos", with the blessings of Ensenada. One of the most corrupt municipalities in all of Central America. The political area of Ensenada is huge, its runs from Rosarito to G. Negro of Baja Sur. All of the Western drug channels into the United States run through Ensenada.

In the last year, thousands of people have been kidnapped, killed and maimed. Tons of drugs confiscated and thousands of bad-guys bagged and killed. Narco-warfare has broken out throughout north-western Mexico. Ensenada remains a haven for violent drug gangs and corrupt police.

Until Ensenada and the State of Baja California legal structure are clean of violent criminals, going to a baja race for international travellers is to risky. Even the Vildosola racing team is selling its trophy truck and out of racing, because of the threat of crime on their family. Now, phone threats to prominent and visible families are common.

Even the DAKAR organization considered racing in Baja and passed. Passed on Baja Norte and Baja Sur. Mexico is now considered more violent than Iraq and Afghanistan.

Thousands of Mexican families have moved to the United States for protection.

Photos of recent seizures of black commando arms and rides, mountains of drugs and the thugs with guns in Mexico.

NO GO, No Bueno Baja 1000

The Baja tourism collapse continues. The historic Bike Race has thrown in the towel, "The Rosarito Ensenada 50 Mile Fun Bicycle Ride has enjoyed a history spanning almost 30 years and has been an icon among cycling events around the world. But the decrease in Baja tourism has reduced attendance to our financial break-even point. We have decided that this next ride on September 27, 2008, will be our last".

Ensenada continues to be a haven for "black commandos", with the blessings of Ensenada. One of the most corrupt municipalities in all of Central America. The political area of Ensenada is huge, its runs from Rosarito to G. Negro of Baja Sur. All of the Western drug channels into the United States run through Ensenada.

In the last year, thousands of people have been kidnapped, killed and maimed. Tons of drugs confiscated and thousands of bad-guys bagged and killed. Narco-warfare has broken out throughout north-western Mexico. Ensenada remains a haven for violent drug gangs and corrupt police.

Until Ensenada and the State of Baja California legal structure are clean of violent criminals, going to a baja race for international travellers is to risky. Even the Vildosola racing team is selling its trophy truck and out of racing, because of the threat of crime on their family. Now, phone threats to prominent and visible families are common.

Even the DAKAR organization considered racing in Baja and passed. Passed on Baja Norte and Baja Sur. Mexico is now considered more violent than Iraq and Afghanistan.

Thousands of Mexican families have moved to the United States for protection.

If you go, say a prayer and take precautions. Good Luck.

Cross-border abductions rise with Tijuana violenceAugust 14, 2008 UPDATES!By Lizbeth Diaz ReutersTIJUANA - U.S. businesswoman Veronica was stepping out of her car in California when two men forced her into the passenger seat at gunpoint, pushed her teenage daughter into the back and drove them into Mexico.Taking advantage of lax Mexican security at the San Diego border, and with U.S. authorities focused mainly on those entering the United States, the kidnappers took the two women to Tijuana in January and held them for a month before their family paid a $100,000 ransom."We got an automatic green light to go through Mexican customs and then we were blindfolded and taken to a house in Tijuana. They held a pistol to my stomach all the time we were in the car," said Veronica, who declined to give her last name. As an unintended consequence of Mexican efforts to weaken drug gangs, drug traffickers around Tijuana are turning to abducting U.S. citizens and residents in southern California and holding them in Mexico as a new way to get funds, U.S. and Mexican authorities say.Mexican intelligence officials say Veronica is one of around 30 U.S. citizens abducted in southern California and taken to Tijuana since last November. "Transnational kidnappings are a new way of operating for these criminal groups, mainly in California, and so we are seeking collaboration with the United States," Baja California Attorney General Rommel Moreno said. The FBI in San Diego says it is investigating 16 cases of U.S. residents kidnapped and held in Tijuana between October last year and May, including some who were abducted in San Diego County. More than 200 people have been kidnapped in Baja California so far this year, a third more than in all of 2007, according to Mexican kidnap victims' association Esperanza. Kidnapping has for long been a major security problem in Mexico but the cross-border seizures are relatively new. In June, the FBI arrested the leader of a Mexican kidnapping and drug-trafficking ring in San Diego. Security firms in San Diego who offer protection, consultancy and technology to avoid kidnappings say business is growing. ACROSS THE BORDER"We have seen an increase in the number of kidnappings of U.S. citizens in Tijuana, including cross-border abductions," said FBI special agent Darrell Foxworth in San Diego. Several U.S. citizens have also been kidnapped in Texas this year and held for ransom in Mexico, the FBI said. Mexican officials say the Arellano FAclix drug cartel in Tijuana is turning more to kidnapping after being weakened by battles with rival drug gangs and the arrest of its top leaders." The break-up of the Arellano Felix organization has not been as complete as we would have wished ... they have moved into other activities such as kidnapping," Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora said recently. Police suspect the Arellano Felix clan is conducting cross-border abductions because so many wealthy Mexicans have left Tijuana and those who remain have heavy security.Most of the abductions are done in daylight, with the kidnappers using the victim's car and threatening the victim with a hidden pistol, Mexican police and Esperanza say.A spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in San Diego said the agency does not have the resources to carry out southbound checks, although agents do make periodic, surprise revisions. Mexican customs officials only check about 5 percent of vehicles entering Tijuana and blame a lack of funds for the lightly-manned border posts, said a Baja California official who declined to be named.

A Sinaloa Seizure in Nicaragua?The Nicaraguan navy intercepted two speedboats this past week loaded with more than 1 ton of cocaine several miles off the country’s Caribbean coast. A Nicaraguan naval official said the cocaine belonged to the Sinaloa drug cartel and that Sinaloa is among the groups that most often use Caribbean waters for drug trafficking. Seizures such as these often serve as opportunities to examine the status of trafficking routes not only between South America and Mexico, but also within Mexico itself.Assuming that the Nicaraguan navy is correct in its assessment that the drugs belonged to Sinaloa, the cocaine would have to take one of three routes as it traveled to Sinaloan hands in Mexico. The first would be to continue via boat directly to Mexico’s Caribbean coast; the second would be to transit across Central America for transfer to another boat in the Pacific for delivery to Pacific beach in Mexico; and the third would be to enter Mexico via its land border with Belize or Guatemala. Considering the increasing Mexican cartel activity in Central America and the greater monitoring of ships and planes approaching Mexico, transit over Mexico’s land border appears to be among the more likely options. If true, it raises the possibility of a stronger Sinaloa presence in Guatemala and Belize than had been previously considered. Further details about the intended route of this shipment will offer greater insight into the presence of Sinaloa traffickers.

ALL US. STATE SECURITY AGREEMENTS WITH BAJA CALIFORNIA CORRUPTED - ARIZONA AGREEMENT WITH SONORA FLAWEDArizona Attorney General Terry Goddard will travel to Hermosillo, Sonora, Friday to sign an historic agreement between the states of Arizona and Sonora, Mexico.Prior to the signing, Goddard and attorneys from his Office's Financial Remedies Section and representatives from the Arizona Department of Public Safety will conduct a seminar on anti-money laundering techniques for the Sonoran Attorney General's Office.The agreement, which takes the form of a memorandum of understanding, outlines the two states' commitment to create a law enforcement exchange and training program, share information and investigation techniques on human trafficking cases and establish a task force on Internet crimes against children.Goddard and Baja California Attorney General Rommel Moreno Manjarrez signed a similar agreement last week at the annual meeting of the Conference of Western Attorneys General in Seattle.

The General, who is in command of military operations in Baja and Sonora, just delivered a 21-page press release where he accused the Baja Attorney General and the Baja Secretary of Security of orchestrating a campaign of"smear, intrigue and slander" to have him removed from his command.

He said the campaign to try to pin the firing of the pistol in the Pampas Do Brasil restaurant in Mexicali on him goes right to the top. Aponte claims that his success against drug trafficking and organized crime was causing all kinds of problems at the highest levels of Baja California state government (thereby insinuating that the highest levels are corrupt).Earlier in the month, an emergency meeting going on in Mexicali between the state Secretary General and the Secretary of Public Security. Here is the Reader's digest version of what is going down.Last Sunday, General Sergio Aponte Polito, who heads the infantry division in Baja that is cleaning out the cartels, was having a dinner with retired Major Justo Buenaventura Jaimes Villarreal, who is now the civilian head of the State Preventative Police. They were in the Las Palmas restaurant in Mexicali. During the dinner, one of the two pulled his pistol and fired a shot into the ceiling. At first Jaimes Villarreal accused General Ploito of firing the shot. General Polito has accused Jaimes Villarreal. Now, General Polito is worshipped like a saint in Baja as the only guy with the huevos to go after the cartels. On the other hand, many people think the State Proventative Police are all tied-in with the cartels. The cartels have been trying to knock General Polito off his pedestal and get him out of the way. There is supposed to be some kind of a press release today after this emergency meeting. Everybody is on pins and needles waiting to see on whose side the state Secretary General and the Secretary of Public Security land.

The scheduled General Sergio Aponte Polito press conference has been cancelled. Instead, the General issued a 21 page letter of complaint naming Daniel de Rose, the Secretary Of Public Security, Rommel Moreno, the Attorney General and linking other State officials to narcotics trafficking collusion and corruption. In addition, the General emphasized that these same State officials, being resentful of the progress of the narcotic and organized crime crackdown enforced by the General, prompted them to commit slander and false leaks to the press regarding the General in order to sully his reputation, specifically the incident involving a shooting at the Pampas Restaurant in Mexicali last July 20th.What happened? There are new story lines popping up every few days now. The governor of Baja, José Guadalupe Osuna Millán, says he does not have precise information on the incident and met with General Polito to get more details on what really happened.http://el-mexicano.info/nota.aspx?idNota=312578&esSecc=trueThe readers comments to this article are very interesting:"SI con esa prepotencia actuan los altos mandos, que ejemplo les da a sus mandos más abajo? y a sus gatos? que jodido estamos ¡¡¡"If the high level authorities can act with such arrogance, what kind of an example does that give to the subordinates? and their people? We are totally f**ked!!!"Saquen a ese ####o de buenaventura de ahi... que no sirve para nada solo para mandarnos para sus cosas personales... no tiene los suficientes para hacer un buen director..."Get rid of that SOB Buenaventura...he's useless, only good for sending us on personal errands for himself...he hasn't got the right stuff to be a good director..Then, the head of the State Preventative Police, Major Justo Buenaventura Jaimes Villarreal, was relieved. His replacement is Juan Miguel Guillén Gutiérrez.http://el-mexicano.info/nota.aspx?idNota=312581&esSecc=true

July 12, 2008 Black Commandos continue attacking BajaState Of Baja California Attorney General Rommel Moreno Manjarrez admitted today the "Black Commandos of Baja California", are tied to the cartels. Organized criminals posing as law enforcement, continue to plague Baja California.The Baja crime wave identified in 2005 continues.The "Social Decomposition" tied to the crimes of the 'Zetas' or Black Commandos, are continuing without delay. Beware travellers to Baja California, without guidance, your travel can risk your life.

JUNE 26, 2008Baja Justice to Americans: F-YOU!Man accused in agent's death released in MexicoPhoto of: Rommel Moreno Manjarrez, Attorney General Baja CaliforniaBy ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN(AP)TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — "U.S. officials were shocked that a Mexican judge had freed a man imprisoned in connection with the death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Wednesday.Jesus Navarro Montes was arrested Jan. 22 in northern Mexico in the killing of Agent Luis Aguilar and had also been held over for trial there on migrant smuggling charges. The circumstances of his recent release from a Mexicali prison couldn't be determined Wednesday."We are working with a determined Mexican government, and our Department of Justice, to seek swift justice for the Aguilar murder," Chertoff said in a statement. "We have also assured Agent Aguilar's family that every resource is being called upon in the relentless pursuit of justice." The attorney general's office in Baja California, Mexico, confirmed that Navarro had been released but couldn't provide any details of his case. Officials answering phones at the 12th District Court in Mexicali said no one authorized to speak to the media was available.Aguilar was run over and killed Jan. 19 as he tried to put down spike strips to stop a drug-filled vehicle and a pickup that were fleeing back to Mexico.Authorities believe Navarro left Mexicali in Baja California in a Hummer carrying drugs and headed across sand dunes into the U.S., according to Mexico's federal Attorney General's office and Public Safety Department. Border Patrol agents saw the vehicles on Interstate 8 in southeastern California and pursued them. When both vehicles turned off the highway toward Mexico, Aguilar tried to deflate the vehicles' tires but was struck. Navarro continued across the border into Mexico and drove to Mexicali, where he gave the Hummer to accomplices for safekeeping, according to the attorney general's office. He was arrested a few days later. Mexican officials announced in late January that a judge had ordered a trial for Navarro on migrant smuggling charges. It wasn't clear Wednesday whether the U.S. had formally requested his extradition. But Mexican law usually requires that suspects face justice in Mexico before they can be extradited.Debra Hartman, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in San Diego, wouldn't say Wednesday whether the U.S. government had charged Navarro or had sought his extradition. She wouldn't say whether the investigation of the case had been completed.An online federal court database does not list any charges filed by prosecutors against Navarro in Southern California. The head of the union representing Border Patrol agents also expressed shock over Navarro's release. "Every Border Patrol agent in the country is outraged and stunned by this," said T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council."

June 16, 2008LINK HERE TO STORYJust days before the baja 500, just weeks ago, the Ensenada cops went through their FIRST piss test! It was the start of the end of the Black Commandos of Ensenada, a group that has been the lawless criminal operation in charge for years, NOW the guns point at the head law enforcement official of Baja California. The Mexican Peoples Army captured the head of a drug and kidnapping gang in Ensenada over the weekend. Turns out he was the former police chief, Rosario Flores Rojas. The article says that a bunch of people in high places in Ensenada's police and Justice ministry are shaking in their boots. Apparently, according to the article, he was being protected by his godmother, Sonia Patricia Navarro Navarro, who was an assistant prosecutor in the Justice ministry. People all the way up to the top of the Justice Department are implicated.They think this guy is connected with the Arellano Félix cartel and that the cartel would try to spring him out of jail. So they have him in some undisclosed place, being guarded by the army.

JUNE 9, 2008

The State of Baja California Attorney General is YOUR enemy. He wants Mexican criminals to stay in the US and for YOU to pay for them.""Baja California Attorney General calls on the U.S. to stop deporting criminals The U.S. authorities must prevent mass deportations because records show that over 56% of those deported were sentenced for crimes in the United States, explained the Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado (PGJE) [Attorney General of Baja California]. Rommel Moreno Manjarrez said that in 2006 the Customs and Immigation Agency for the San Diego sector deported 16,476 persons and that 56% had been convicted of crimes in the U.S.. During his participation in the National Meeting of Attorneys General of the U.S. in Providence, Rhode Island, he indicated that there is a need for support from his counterparts in the United States and Canada to reduce the mass deportation of ex-convicts to Baja California. ""It's an issue that greatly affects Baja California, because some of the deportees are criminals from the state prison systems in California, as well as Nevada, Washington and Oregon," he said. He added that they are deported even before completing their sentences, due to overcrowding in prisons throughout the United States.""Link to story en espanol:http://www.frontera.info/EdicionEnLinea/Notas/Nacional/19062008/310849.aspx

"Yes, CODE 2008 champs, it's a real shame, actually I knew and talked to them, they have gone to our partys and eat from our food (and drink out tecates), we didn't know what they were into. Actually almost all class 11 from mexicali know each other and help everyone, so everyone knew them, they were "good guys...?". I think they won also the CEC 11 (campeonato estatal clase 11) that joins teams from CODE and RECORD. the young brother, Luis was the one that prepped Ricardo's car when all this happened. Also, the other guy that was rescued the same day was his cousin, and he used to sponsorship them ".

Omar dipp nuñez: "State Prosecutor stated he was looking for a 50 year sentence. He stated that their cousin was involved in at least 12 kidnapings, thats a lot of kidnappings... He used to prep my car too. The guy that prepped the cars was the youngest one and he had kind of the benefit of the doubt, maybe, maybe not involved, after Ricardos ordeal we stoped working with him too, but i guess this takes away the benefit..."

The local paper reports: "They present the companions of who they abducted two businessmen mexicalenses in May of last year By Yadira Murillo Mexicali, B.C. (PH).- Two presumed members of a band of abductors that according to the state Attorney's office belong to the Cartel of the Arellano Félix (CAF), who they carried out "levantones" in Tijuana and Mexicali were captured yesterday in this capital. The persons under arrest are indicated for participating in the abductions of two businessmen mexicalenses, occurred in May of last year and who they were rescued in an operating crime one. The businessmen rescued at that time are the owner of the chain of meat markets Super nanny goats, Jorge Cervantes López, and the local businessman Ricardo Malo. It two men presented yesterday were identifying like the José Ramón and Luis Alberto Rodriguez Melgoza, who they were captured in González Ortega and the colony Prohogar, respectively. Rommel Dark Manjárrez, proxy of Justice, reported that both recognized to form part of the band headed by Antonio Grajeda Melgoza, who was person under arrest by the Army Mexican last year and at present is found in the penal one of The Mushroom. The two men had evaded the justice, therefore during the operating one of rescue managed to assure eight members of the band that abducted to them mentioned businessmen, among them a former local police of Tijuana. The work of the brothers Rodriguez Melgoza consisted of locating the houses of suitable security to maintain them captives to the victims, to sign as guarantee, as well as to help in the logistics and transfer of the abductors. Also Also they provided the names, occupation and proxy_current_url of the victims to be kidnapped. The criminal group besides depriving of the liberty to the businessmen mexicalenses, committed at least ten abductions with residents of Tijuana. Yesterday in the presentation in the installations of the Command of Ministerial Police, the place was protected with armed and hooded agents with rifles. The public prosecutor mentioned that currently in Mexicali does not count on itself some case of abduction, neither neither in Inlet and that this crime in Tijuana has diminished".

The Final word on this outrage....from Brett Fredrickson,"A dear friend, a US resident was kidknapped then killed last year (Robert Ulloa) RIP. I also know of 2 other people that have been robbed within the last year. So dont think it cant happen to you."Since last year, Baja Racing News.com chose NOT to report on the ULLOA story. At the time, our sources had received reports of criminal elements targeting Americans.

In very dramatic fashion, authorities, with guns blazing, freed our fellow racer. Shots were fired on both sides. The 'kidnap house' was near the city of industry in Mexicali. In Colonia Santa Theresa. Malo had been held for eight days. A Local Ministerial Police officer who was injured by bullets in the operation to rescue the kidnap victims, is undergoing surgery at a hospital in Mexicali, where his condition was last reported as serious.

The leader of the band of kidnappers who took the two Mexicali businessmen, including Baja racer Malo, was identified as Cristian Castro Reyes, 28, who was a police officer in Tijuana, who was fired in August 2007. There were 8 total kidnappers. 7 kidnappers arrested. Two kidnap victims rescued. One person has been reported dead, one of the kidnappers. One of the rescuers injured.

Photos from todays actions in Mexicali freeing Ricardo Malo:

Additional photos from May 5 from yet another event that the authorities freed another kidnap victim:

As this story is unfolding in the state capital this afternoon, a huge story is breaking in Tijuana and Mexicali through the day. The Baja California Sec. of Public Security and the state's Attorney General held a press conference and announced that 145 law enforcement personnel in five different cities of the state are being dismissed since "irregularities in their conduct" have been found. Some have been linked to organized crime. The total number dismissed includes 42 "ministerial police" officers, 94 "preventive police", plus four others, all state police.

Baja Racing News.com wishes to express our deep relief for Sr. Ricardo Malo and the Family and Friends of everyone involved. We are following the story...

The original story by Baja Racing News.com, first to release the confirmed story in English:

Baja Racing News.com Breaks the story THEY DO NOT WANT YOU TO KNOW! UPDATED!May 5 UPDATE

Racers all over the West are reacting to the kidnapping of our friend, fellow Baja racer Ricardo Malo. But, some are reacting in public ways that they may regret. In directing their feelings toward the kidnappers, Primo's Verdone of Lake Havasu, Primo Racing Engines, Kincaidracing.net, says, "Let's find them and kill them".Ryan Nolan of Corona, CA, has replied and supported Primos expression by saying, "I'm game".On one motorcycle message board in particular, many members wanted the talk about the kidnapping, completely covered up!

THE ORIGINAL STORY THAT BROKE THE NEWS

An armed group of men, kidnapped Ricardo Malo Valadez, industralist son of Ensenada-Plaza Cachanillas and famous Baja racer is being held for ransom. These events were verified by the Attorney Generals offices of the State of Baja California.

Baja Racing News.com has received messages that the kidnappings in Baja California are actually growing in numbers. Families struck with these criminal acts are not contacting the usual authorities, because the same people assigned to investigate these matters have been proven to be part of the criminal activity. Just this week, the anti-kidnapping chief of the Attorney Generals office of Baja California was arrested with his entire department for investigation of complicity.

Also, we'd consider this info correct, except for the fact the San Diego Police Department is unwilling to come clean with the general public about this statement: "there are 50 kidnapping cels from TJ to Ensenada. He (a reported San Diego Police Department detective) said that these cels are targeting business men and higher ups. They will sit at the airports and watch for guys getting of of private jets/helicopters. They will also sit at border crossing and wait for a target that looks like what they are looking for. These cels are getting approx. 6 million a month for ransoms and not always completing they're end of the bargain!".

The armed men used violence to take Ricardo. At five in the afternoon of the [Date in question, this date was first reported in the press in Mexicali, 12th of April, as well as the first report of the kidnapping in Ensenada] in Mexicali, at Avenue Blacksmiths and Street H, in front of address 528, a group came to get Malo, a Ford truck F-150 arrived, Malo resisted the kidnapping, the assailants broke the glass to get him and used the butt of a gun to dispatch him, pistol whipped and taken at gunpoint.

By the time the police arrived, blood and broken truck glass were discovered at the scene. Ricardo Malo is registered with SCORE for the Baja 500 in the Score Lite Class, "1214 Ricardo Malo". In the series rankings he placed second, "After two rounds of the five race series, in SCORE LITE—1. Steve Mamer, Holtville, Calif., Raceco-VW, 96; 2. Ricardo Malo/Arturo Honold, Mexicali, Mexico."

Reports from the police in Ensenada say demands for ransom have been received by the family of Ricardo Malo Valadez.

-Narco-Ballads, songs glorifying criminals, are now officially outlawed in the State of Baja California. An administrative order was sent today from Mexicali to all TV and Radio stations in writing. To the average ignorant gringo, this may not sound like much. But, here in Mexico, this is a significant move addressing a social signal telling people the rule of law and respect for life are now more important than money, immorality and death.Please keep Ricardo and his Friends and Family in your prayers.

Mexican Army growing and expanding in Baja Mexico

Because of the expanding Baja Crime Wave, the Mexican Army is expanding its Baja California statewide patrols, resulting in more remote contact with the Mexican Army patrols.

Off Road Racing on TV

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Baja Racing News is a product of the Publisher, Gary Newsome and in no way represents any of the sponsors, advertisers or race organizers. We are an online news service, not a baby sitting service. No whiners or kooks! No Richard Craniums!

Gary Newsome Publisher

About Gary Newsome, Publisher

I am a retired US Veteran and Voice of America Editor, Living in Ensenada, Mexico. Also raced with the Balboa Datsun Team in the early days of Rally and Off Road on the west coast, in National City, California.

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